Talking Numbers

Four Things Miss USA 2013 Can’t Live Without

Miss USA 2013, Erin Brady, lists the four things she can't live without. Talking Numbers then asked our contributors if there are trading ideas in the companies who manufacture those products.

She was crowned Miss USA 2013 this past Sunday and now she’s talking numbers with Talking Numbers. Erin Brady was an accountant from central Connecticut before winning her title.

Speaking to Talking Numbers, Brady listed the four things she can’t live without. Is there a way to trade the companies behind the products Miss USA likes?

We asked Talking Numbers contributors Richard Ross, Global Technical Strategist at Auerbach Grayson, and Enis Taner, Global Macro Editor at RiskReversal.com, to do the analyses and determine if Miss USA’s must-haves are also must-haves for your portfolio.

Enis Taner: This is a very stable, consumer staples company. It executes its business well, with only one year in the past ten where earnings dropped year-over-year. But, it's now trading around 19x on a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) basis, while only projected to grow earnings about 5%, so it's expensive. The 3.5% dividend yield is the main reason for the high valuation, but I don't like it at these levels.

Richard Ross: Consumer staple companies like Clorox have been outstanding performers over the last four years. Now, however, not even Clorox has been immune from the recent correction. In my view, this type of correction is perfectly normal given the magnitude of the advance. And, it has created a compelling buying opportunity for a world class brand. There is outstanding support down below at the 200-day moving average around $79.51 per share and I would look to enter the stock from current levels down to that support. [See Rich's Clorox chart below.]

Enis Taner: This is one of my favorite large-cap stocks in the market right now. It's been a market share gainer in the pharmacy/retail sector for years. It is still projected to grow earnings of 10% to 20% over the next couple years. At around 16x P/E, this is a reasonably-valued stock with a strong history of delivering results.

3. iHomeManufactured by: SDI Technologies (private company), accessory-maker for products made by publicly-traded Apple (AAPL).
Enis Taner: Earlier this week, I mentioned three reasons why I thought Apple was dead money: 1) Lack of earnings growth: Product cycle still won't provide a major boost until 2014; 2) Lack of innovation, particularly in the phone business: Competitors have taken the baton on the new product front, and two-thirds of Apple’s profits still come from the iPhone segment. 3) Cheap valuation: 3% dividend yield, and its large share repurchase program imply limited downside, but the stock has limited upside as well.

Richard Ross: Rich is more bullish than Enis, saying the chart below indicates a future move up in Apple:

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4. Lady Gaga Fame perfume
Manufactured by: Coty (COTY)
Enis Taner: This is a more speculative stock since it just went public last week. But I'm going to trust Miss USA on this one as she's the beauty expert. Valuation is reasonable – around 20x P/E – for a growth stock of Coty’s size. If it can make inroads internationally, it's a solid story.
Richard Ross: Coty is a recent IPO (initial public offering) so it is not charitable for charting its stock price.

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About Talking Numbers

TALKING NUMBERS is a fully integrated media experience, hosted by CNBC and Yahoo Finance, that takes a 360° approach to trading-highlighting the best investment opportunities by analyzing stocks both a technical and a fundamental point of view. But TALKING NUMBERS will do more than just tell investors what to buy; it will show them HOW to buy. Our goal: teach viewers how to harness both technical and fundamental data points so they can become better investors.